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Tied Up
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This 1992 Spanish-American co-production – presumably picked up for video release because of the overnight celebrity status won for Teri Hatcher by television's Lois and Clark (and later, after a long interregnum, revived with Desperate Housewives) – is an oddity. It begins like a cross between a teen movie and a Blake Edwards sex comedy, with Brian (Zach Galligan from Gremlins [1984]) merrily pursuing his lifestyle as reckless womaniser and hip expert on blues music. Brian is engaged to Linda (Hatcher) who soon learns of his prolific infidelity. Enlisting her goofy girlfriends – real estate agent Kim (Lara Harris) and aspiring actor Sharon (Tracy Griffith) – Linda decides to tie Brian up for an indefinite period and teach him a lesson or three. At this point the laughter stops dead and All Tied Up becomes a kinky Almodóvar tribute. Excruciating tortures are inflicted on our reactionary hero in the name of feminist revenge. An unbilled Patrick Bergin pops in, sporting a Louise Brooks wig as if auditioning for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). Linda even seems to have a faintly lesbian vibe going with Kim – that is, until a "warm, sensitive and nurturing" cop shows up at the door to divert the latter's affections. Director John Mark Robinson (who previously made the creditable genre-pieces Roadhouse 66 [1984] and Kid [1991], but has done nothing since) eventually attempts to re-introduce a measure of sanity. But the resolution of this strange sex war harbours an all too familiar double standard. While it is perverse and disturbing for a woman to tie up a man, the reversal of this game is treated as perfectly reasonable. Linda may scream, "What gives you the right to harass me?" but smirking Brian has the show-stopping answer: "Love". © Adrian Martin October 1994 |
